Question on Aziz Shittu leaders according Rivals
This is probably going out to you Tom, but if anyone else knows that would be great. Do we have a chance with Shittu? I know it seems Pipkins and/or Obrien seem our most likely DT signees, but I thought Aziz Shittu wanted to visit UofM officially and we might be a player if we can land a visit (and still have spots open). The reason I ask is because Rivals says he has a top 9 excluding Michigan. I have not heard anything about him eliminating Michigan, but I might have missed it. I also recall a Tweet someone posted on here about him hoping there was still space available down the road when is can visit.
"My final 10, in no order, are Washington, Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, UCLA, Stanford, Cal, Auburn, Nebraska and Arizona," Shittu said. "I might try and do some unofficial visits to one or two of the out of state schools in the summer but it will depend on how much it costs to get out there."
That was from early June though, so it may have changed
Edit: According to Scout's offer list we're in his "top 8"
http://hscalifornia.scout.com/a.z?s=153&p=8&c=1&nid=5360645
Michigan has a shot with Shittu. His DC is a huge Michigan fan and has been hyping up the school to him a lot. Plus Shittu has really liked his interactions with coach Ferrigno. It will be key to get him out to campus for an official though. If he doesn't schedule an official visit M is probably out of it and to be honest it's gonna take a lot to pull him anyway, he would probably prefer to stay on the west coast.
I know there's debate over whether we'll take just one more D-lineman or possibly squeeze in two. As we all know we're looking at Wormley, Washington, O'Brien, Pipkins and Shittu. My question is....at this point who's closest to making a decision? Bcuz it doesn't seem like Shittu is anywhere near this point, and the feeling I've gotten from this discussion on other threads is that O'Brien and Wormley are much closer. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)
Wormley has said he wants to decide before his season, and it's pretty much been known where he's going for a long time. (hopefully)
O'Brien, IIRC, has said he wants to take official visits. Pipkins is coming up to AA in July or August, and he could see something he likes and crack then. But after Wormley, the rest of our DL could take a while (or just the normal amount of time - we're spoiled)
end up at Hokes BBBQ then it could get interesting, but yeah, it's unlikely that Washington or Shittu decide before Wormely, Pipkins, and OBrien are ready to.
Per Tom's update a couple weeks ago, Aziz said he'd announce on either Signing Day or at the Army AA game. But not sooner. He knows the class limitations and said something to the effect of "if it fills up, then it fills up."
It would be seriously hard to turn away a player like him if he were to decide late he wants to come to Michigan.
The talk is whether we'll only take one interior lineman as O'Brien reportedly was told. Pipkins has mentioned possibly deciding early too.
Yeah, I always figured we'd taked Wormley at DE and then it'd be between Shittu, Pipkins and O'Brien for the two interior D-Line spots.
So I guess Rivals missed the his comments about Michigan. We would need to get him on campus to hope to have a shot. Although I know the coaches want to wrap up 2012 recruiting asap, I think we will probably have a few spots open as it gets closer to signing day, just to see if any big fish are interested, depending if the coaches get a good vibe from guys like Shittu or Garnett etc..
I'd love him, of course, and I know he's so highly rated. However of all the DT film I've seen, O'Brien is constantly the best performer. He's crazy good and moves like a judo champ - using the OL balance against him and using a burst of quickness to get around him. It's amazing.
With that said, I'd be a happy camper with either, or ideally, both.